Work & commute · Ferndale

Work & commute in Ferndale, WA

Most working residents leave Ferndale for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Bellingham (34%), Seattle (4%) and Lynden (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

917 of 6,897 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,980 Ferndale residents head out of town to work, 917 work right here, and 5,209 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ferndale.

5,980live here, work elsewhere

917live and work here

5,209work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ferndale goes to work

Bellingham8.8 mi away

34%2,360

Ferndale (in town)right here

13%917

Seattle86 mi away

4%297

Lynden9 mi away

4%258

Everett64.3 mi away

3%181

Blaine11.7 mi away

3%179

Mount Vernon32.7 mi away

2%109

Marietta-Alderwood4.8 mi away

2%108

Bellevue89 mi away

1%91

Custer4.6 mi away

1%68

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%2,329

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Ferndale commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

62%

10%

23%

62%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ferndale is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Ferndale are

6,126 jobs are based in Ferndale. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ferndale’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ferndale

6,126 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Ferndale residents hold

6,897 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+20%

Jobs based in Ferndale, 2013 → 2023: 5,092 → 6,126. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.